Veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders is ecstatic about playing with future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees after signing a two-year deal with the New Orleans Saints on Saturday.
Sanders said playing in a “pass happy” offense in New Orleans will be like “WR heaven” for him, per Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Advocate.
Emmanuel Sanders on playing with Brees: I've been in a pass happy offense in 2010 with Ben Roethlisberger and in 2014 with Peyton Manning. … So to be back in a pass happy offense with a Hall of Fame quarterback, it's like WR heaven for me.
— Luke Johnson (@ByLukeJohnson) March 22, 2020
The 33-year-old started the 2019 season with the Denver Broncos before a midseason trade sent him to the San Francisco 49ers.
Sanders showed he still has plenty of gas in the tank during his time with the Niners. He caught 36 passes for 502 yards in 10 games, averaging nearly 14 yards per reception and 9.5 yards per target.
Although he was mostly a non-factor for the Niners during a playoff run where San Francisco churned out offense on the ground, he nearly made the play of the season.
The Niners trailed the Kansas City Chiefs 24-20 late in the fourth quarter, and they had a 3rd and 10 just inside Chiefs territory. Sanders got behind the Chiefs defense, beating his man and the deep safety and giving himself a clear path to the end zone. But Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo overthrew Sanders.
Here's the overthrown deep ball to Emmanuel Sanders from the previous drive on 3rd down.pic.twitter.com/MTgQSuz7Pp
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 3, 2020
Of course, Sanders is now playing for another NFC contender whose signal-caller has quite a bit more pedigree than Garoppolo.
Brees had one of the better seasons of his career despite missing five games due to injury, and he now he will look to get Sanders involved in a passing attack that already includes Michael Thomas.
The skill sets of the sure-handed Thomas and the speedy Sanders figure to feed off one another, which could make the Saints' offense that much more dangerous in 2020.
Sanders is certainly excited. The Saints ought to be excited as well, given the possibilities this move opens up for their offense in the next NFL season.
The Saints lost what was arguably the NFL game of the year to the 49ers, 48-46. Sanders was on one side of that matchup. Now he will move to the other. We will see what changes in the NFC power structure.
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